A Google Form survey was sent to all Colorado Whitewater Board Members in July 2022 to inform strategic planning for the organization. Board members were asked to rank the areas of Events, Kids Team, Instruction, Safety, Infrastructure, Access/Conservation, and Other in order of priority with 1 being highest priority and 7 being lowest priority. Unfortunately, respondents were able to select the same priority rank for multiple areas. The intent was to force one ranking per area.
A total of 13 anonymous responses were received (65% response rate).
The following chart shows the mean ranking for each category, with the highest to lowest priority from left to right. Lower number indicates higher priority. Below the chart is a table summarizing the same information.
| Category | Mean Ranking | Min Ranking | Max Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instruction | 2.38 | 1 | 5 |
| Safety | 2.69 | 1 | 5 |
| Events | 3.08 | 1 | 6 |
| Kids Team | 3.38 | 2 | 6 |
| Access and Conservation | 3.69 | 1 | 6 |
| Infrastructure | 3.69 | 1 | 7 |
| Other | 5.38 | 3 | 7 |
| Note: | |||
| The smaller the ranking, the greater the priority. Table is ordered from highest priority to lowest priority. |
Key Takeaways:
Below is a summary of the ideas shared by board members as to how to invest resources. This summary includes the top themes, but all ideas should be reviewed. After this summary are tables with the themes from each category, ordered by most to least common. The appendix includes the full responses to these questions for additional details.
| Events | Kids Team | Instruction | Safety | Infrastructure | Access and Conservation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provide non-alcoholic beverages, swag for purchase, and food at
events including river weekends and Thirsty Thursdays Host a volunteer appreciation event |
Maintain boats and gear for the Kids Team to use, including managing
who uses and how Ensure leadership is engaged Spin off the Kids Team from the adult programming, including separate events and budgeting Provide team clothing |
Maintain boats and gear for use during classes, including purchasing
a trailer for transport Provide instructor incentives Offer classes throughout the year, by partnering with local businesses or offering through CW Offer wider variety of classes, including non-kayaking (i.e. rafting) and advanced instruction |
Provide free or reduced SWR, fist aid, and CPR classes for
instructors, volunteers, and members Offer classes throughout the year including at river weekends and during the off season Offer skills practice and smaller classes on a regular basis |
Consider paid positions on the board or staff Ensure an engaged, strong board |
Host member volunteer days such as river clean-up days or
adopt-a-highway near rivers Invest in access and play wave improvements for the Blue River, Golden Bleacher Hole and/or BV Pocket Wave |
| Events | n |
|---|---|
| volunteer appreciation event | 5 |
| NA | 4 |
| cruise leader prizes | 2 |
| provide non-alcoholic beverages | 2 |
| swag at events | 2 |
| big name speakers at fall dinner | 1 |
| community social events | 1 |
| food at events | 1 |
| free or low cost river weekend | 1 |
| more cruises | 1 |
| off season training and education | 1 |
| pay people to run cruises | 1 |
| portable speaker and mic | 1 |
| promote Thirsty Thursday | 1 |
| Sell CW gear at events | 1 |
| thank you and acknowledgement for vendors | 1 |
| winter international trips | 1 |
| Kids Team | n |
|---|---|
| maintain boats and gear | 8 |
| NA | 4 |
| engaged leadership | 3 |
| spin off kids team | 2 |
| team clothing | 2 |
| discounted kids classes | 1 |
| gear storage | 1 |
| instructor incentives | 1 |
| kids race event | 1 |
| pay Terry for boats | 1 |
| restrict club gear use | 1 |
| separate kids team membership level | 1 |
| trade-up program | 1 |
| Instruction | n |
|---|---|
| maintain boats and gear | 5 |
| gear trailer | 3 |
| instructor incentives | 3 |
| classes throughout the year | 2 |
| fund classes with local businesses | 2 |
| recruit instructors | 2 |
| advanced instruction | 1 |
| balance CW program vs local businesses | 1 |
| cruises by class | 1 |
| improved organization for class scheduling | 1 |
| larger pool | 1 |
| non-kayaking instruction | 1 |
| pay for outside advanced instructors | 1 |
| permits to teach on river | 1 |
| require commitment from instructors | 1 |
| weekly river night | 1 |
| Safety | n |
|---|---|
| NA | 10 |
| free or discounted CPR and first aid | 5 |
| free or discounted SWR | 3 |
| small regular classes, practice | 2 |
| year-round classes | 2 |
| classes during river weekends | 1 |
| combine safety and instruction | 1 |
| off-season class discounts | 1 |
| partner with providers | 1 |
| throw bags for instructors | 1 |
| Infrastructure | n |
|---|---|
| NA | 7 |
| paid board positions or staff | 2 |
| strong board | 2 |
| board member recruitment and support | 1 |
| board members delegate to volunteers | 1 |
| documented processes and procedures | 1 |
| equipment library | 1 |
| fewer board positions | 1 |
| foster culture of volunteerism | 1 |
| grant writing | 1 |
| in-person board meetings | 1 |
| launch sponsorship program | 1 |
| leader and volunteer recruitment | 1 |
| maintain institutional knowledge | 1 |
| new merchandise | 1 |
| online marketing training | 1 |
| pay for The Spray | 1 |
| purchase storage space | 1 |
| restrict personal gain from board involvement | 1 |
| Access and Conservation | n |
|---|---|
| NA | 12 |
| river clean up days | 3 |
| Blue River access improvement | 2 |
| adopt-a-highway along river | 1 |
| BV Pocket Wave improvement | 1 |
| Conservation books listing on website | 1 |
| Golden Bleacher Hole improvement | 1 |
| Government outreach training for members | 1 |
| Hundreds of thousands for Supreme Court case | 1 |
| pay for lobbyist | 1 |
| share partners’ advocacy efforts | 1 |
| slalom course in Golden | 1 |
| South Platte Enhancement Board grant applications | 1 |
| Events Ideas |
|---|
| $1,000 off season training events: PT shoulder, knot tying, safety, rope throwing, SWR scenarios event |
| as needed seems ok |
| Volunteer appreciation event. We have done sometimes in the past. Spend a little money on pizza and beer at the end of the summer. This seems important to maintain enthusiasm around volunteering and develop pipeline. |
| Events would include fall dinner. Get in the BIG names spend some money for a flight and hotel room for Eric Jackson, Nick Troutman/Emily Jackson. People that are changing Whitewater. |
| There are several international operators who have offered group discounts to CW if we bring a group down. Costa Rica and Chile come to mind (the guy who was at ARK weekend). I think this would be a fun addition to our offerings during the Winter for those who would be interested. |
| River weekends and Training camp are amazing. Cruises are getting back but if there is a need for more cruise leaders, paying people to run the cruises shouldn’t be out of the question. |
| NA |
| Provide non-alcoholic refreshments for folks checking into river weekends. Have a cooler full of sparkling water, juice boxes, and sodas on ice. |
| Consistent events to help engage new folks ideally free |
| be sure to offer non-alcoholic drink options |
| NA |
| Swag and food at events, events a BIG deal |
| Maybe make/purchase CW swag as participant thank yous. Thank you materials and signage for vendors. A portable speaker and microphone? Event for volunteers to thank them. |
| Kids Team Ideas |
|---|
| Stocking boats and supplies: shirt, hat for equipment and team price. Add a kids race event. |
| gear and instruction maybe a trailer? $5-15Kish |
| It seems the biggest challenge for kids team is human resources to run it. I don’t think we should invest much in more equipment unless there’s some stability in management. Whomever is responsible needs to be actively on the board. |
| Buy some gear and let the kids take care of it or set up a buy in program. have each family invest $300 for the first year. the following year they can trade their gear in and trade up to the next size boat. |
| I would defer to Terry on this. |
| I’d be ok spinning the kids team off to it’s own program leadership wise. We’ve had tons of conflict with the kids team wrt funding, storage, volunteers, etc (mostly on the side of the club not supporting it enough). Also there is not a whole lot of overlap between the kids team programming and the adult programming. Spinning that off to it’s own leadership team would allow them to design their own program without trying to shoehorn into the adult programming. |
|
Compensate Terry for t he boats he bought with his own money, and acquire the boats from him. If we don’t know how much he spent, we can buy the boats from him at market rate. He shouldn’t have had to spend his own money on those boats. Additionally, if we are lacking supplies and/or equipment for kids team, we should make sure the kids program director is part of the budgeting discussion and they have funds made available from the revenue from classes to get what they need. |
| Offer kids team classes for less money than adult classes. |
| Allocating for some team clothes would be good. Maybe 10% of what they bring in. We’ve done a decent job of getting boats for them. But a crappy job at making sure they are only used for the club. |
| maintain a supply of equipment that gets loaned for kids team participants for a maximum of two years of participation; recruit and sustain a dedicated kids team leader who will be an active member of the board, participate in budgeting and planning and coordinating with overall instruction. this has been a challenge for my entire board tenure. Consider a special membership for Kids Team (can include families) and a completely separate budget to support their activities. Some can be combined activities with the larger org, but so often currently kids team participants and “regular” members don’t interact a ton. |
| NA |
| Reward the instructors, Lots of needed boats/gear/clothing for the kids |
| Figuring out a system and place for storing gear/keeping track of it. Then purchasing gear they need |
| Instruction Ideas |
|---|
| The weekly river night or one connoted monthly cruise for each class: 2,3,4. Instructors that get free training should require commitment for training classes and cruises. New blood and trainers. We are burning out same members that do everything. |
| gear and instruction maybe a trailer? $5-15Kish |
| NA |
| More instructors and classes. Swift water rescue, first Aid classes. I believe that Colorado Whitewater is not just Kayaking. I would love to see a certified raft instructor. |
| I think there is a need for more advanced instruction. Perhaps bringing in a high-level coach and have him/her offer advanced clinics to members who would pay for the cost. |
| What are the goals of the instruction program? How much do we want to step on the toes of other local businesses? We should either step up our programming to a full program with classes year round or do something like funding scholarships to other companies. Paying for permits on river sections we teach on would be a big improvement too. |
|
Take care of these instructors by offering them clinics and courses. I haven’t seen this in the last couple years…with COVID gone this year, there is no excuse. We are going to lose instructors if we don’t take care of them. Should we purchase a trailer and boats for people to use? This idea was thrown out there and it may make sense, instead of spending $2700 on renting boats that was paid to TRR. |
| Pay for pro instructors and host at least one river weekend per year exclusively for the instructors. By t-shirts for instructors that say “CW Instructor”. Pay a graphic artist to design the shirts so they look nice. |
| Might be a good idea to get our own boats to support beginners. That comes with pick up and delivery challenges though |
| buy a fleet of boats + trailer for the beginner series (perhaps working with GRS, Confluence, etc during their swaps for acquiring gear); partner with outfitters like Whitewater Attainment, RMOC, RMA, Whitewater Workshop to provide on river instruction during the summer; offer pool classes in the fall in addition to the winter |
| NA |
| Gear rental, access to boats and equipment and larger pool space. Reward the instructors, excellent organization when utilizing instructors and setting up classes. |
| NA |
| Safety Ideas |
|---|
| See above on classes. |
| free cpr and first aid classes $5kish |
| NA |
| I think safety and Instruction go hand and hand. combine them. |
| I think offering the CPR and Swift Water rescue clinics has been a great idea. Maybe do CPR in the winter to keep members engaged in the club year round. |
|
We should have a swiftwater class at every single river weekend and training camp. I think the best benefit the club can provide though is smaller courses more frequently. Not full swiftwater courses but a monthly knot tying, or mechanical advantage, or boat based rescue night. For rescue classes, I’m curious if everyone (us, students, providers) would be happier if we just told providers we’d pay for a $25 discount per club member who took a class if they match another $25 off. Students break even vs our current offering, the officers don’t need to deal with refunds etc, and providers get more people signed up. |
|
Get people CPR and First Aid Certified -we are on the right track here. Keep doing this. Continue to offer SWR classes |
| Buy throw bags for the instructors. |
| More swift water classes or refreshers. Maybe some practice events. |
| continue on the current path of offering multiple swiftwater, rescue skills, CPR and first aid classes throughout the year |
| NA |
| Reduced costs with water rescue courses early in the spring before runoff or in August/September when water is dwindling and races are over. |
| NA |
| Infrastructure Ideas |
|---|
| Equipment library: pfd, helmets, paddles, boats, flotation bags, dry suits like the golden bike library |
| start a gofundme/donation page for the old bleacher hole in golden to be reworked $20Kish |
| NA |
| We need a strong Board that can be trusted. All board members should not set on the board for personal gains. this has happen several; times in the past and is going on right now. take for example conservation and access. if I owned a kayaking school it would be |
| I’ve never visited the ‘shed’ and have no idea how to access that. Is this rented? Could we find a larger permanent space to purchase? |
| There is a ton of grant funding for programs like ours. Having someone in charge of grant writing would be good. Some board positions should be paid or at least offer per-diem/expenses reimbursement (access, river weekends, training camp, etc). We should pay for online marketing training for board members. The social blasts to every group for every single thing we do are getting old. |
| NA |
| Consider paying someone to write for, and publish, The Spray. This wouldn’t need to be a huge expense, perhaps $50 per issue, published quarterly. |
| N/a |
| Board member recruitment and onboarding is essential. We have had substantial turnover and lack of engagement among board members in recent years. I believe the board is too large and we do not need all the positions we have. Events can be combined - Thirsty Thursday is an off river event. We may be better served hiring part time staff to execute the bulk of the activities (instruction/kids team and events are the two big ones) under the direction and support of the board. Similar nonprofits have this structure (i.e. Friends of the Yampa) We need documented processes and details on accessing important information: not everyone has access to the DropBox that Jodi shared years ago, not everyone understands historical decisions and context, institutional knowledge is lost when there is turnover in positions and materials are not adequately shared and explained. |
| NA |
| Improved boat access at the Blue River run put in |
| NA |
| Access and Conservation Ideas |
|---|
| NA |
| lower blue? clear creek access points with new construction. |
| NA |
| platte river clean up bring it back. |
| Maybe we could Adopt a Hwy as a club…around Clear Creek or Poudre for example and have member clean up days (off season is probably more realistic for getting people to come out.) |
| Paying for a lobbyist would be great. Right to float legislation has the political capital to start laying the groundwork. At least we should be doing government outreach training for members. AW has done a handful of these. The South Platte Enhancement Board offers up to $40,000 in grant funding per year for improvements to Waterton, Deckers, Foxton, Bailey. We should have a program lined up every year to request funding for access points, parking, toilets, boatable day studies, log removal, etc. We also should be supporting the Texas Creek Fisherman court case. I don’t understand AW’s position to not intervene yet and they haven’t explained it adequately. When that case or a similar one makes it to the supreme court we need to have funding available (hundreds of thousands minimum) for a lot of things like lawyers, marketing, signature campaigns, lobbying, etc. |
| Donate money to the Pocket Wave redo in Buena Vista. BV SURF. There is a huge initiative to raise money. CW may even be able to get their name on a plaque |
| Devote a portion of the CW website to listing books about natural resource conservation. |
| None |
| organize conservation activities like river clean ups and provide meal + drink for participants; share AW and other partners’ advocacy efforts with our membership and ask our members to participate in local, state and national advocacy (writing legislators, for example) |
| NA |
| Not sure |
| NA |
| Other Ideas |
|---|
| More community, social events, update new merchandise offerings and designs, better recognition of volunteers and prizes. |
| NA |
| Not sure if this takes much money but seems there needs to be more focus on nurturing potential board members. Usually it is an October scramble to see who is willing and has a pulse. Developing more of a culture of volunteerism among members may be a start. The volunteer appreciation event is an idea. Certainly the prizes for cruise leaders at fall dinner is great. But there needs to be more outreach into the membership and people who are actively participating to recruit future leaders. |
| Give back to the community of boaters add a free river weekend or low cost option. |
| I think we could promote Thirsty Thursdays more and possible sell CW gear at them. I think a Volunteer Social in the Fall makes sense as a thank you. I think offering the prize for cruise leaders has been a great idea. I think that should have been promoted more as an incentive. |
| Fewer board members delegating to volunteers would allow us to be more agile. Webmaster doesn’t need to be a board member for instance. Thirsty Thursday, events, etc. not all volunteers need to go to every board meeting. |
| We need to continue with the sponsorship program and really see that this gets taken care of. |
| The board needs to start meeting in person again. |
| None |
| NA |
| NA |
| Supporting cruises and more of them |
| NA |